Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Saturday extended a formal invitation to separatist leaders in the Kashmir Valley to meet the all-party delegation, which begins a two-day visit to the State on Sunday.
The letter, which was issued by Ms. Mufti as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president and not as the Chief Minister, is addressed to leaders of the Tehreek-e-Hurriyat, Hurriyat Conference, Hurriyat Conference J&K, JKLF, National Front and Jamaat-e-Islami.
She has addressed Sayeed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Mohammad Yasin Malik, Prof. Abdul Gani Bhat, Moulvi Abbas Ansari, Shabir Ahmad Shah, Bilal Gani Lone, Aga Hassan, Naeem Ahmad Khan and Amir Jamiat-e-Ahli-Hadees by their names and sought "cooperation in the peaceful resolution of the issue of Jammu and Kashmir".
“All of us are deeply concerned, albeit in our own way, about the existing situation in the Valley. Notwithstanding the fact that you and I have different and divergent political ideologies, I have no doubt that all of us have the best interest of the people of J&K in mind," reads the letter.
"True, our politics and programmes are at variance with each other, but our concerns for our people and society in general, and the future of our youth in particular, should not be any different," it added.
She asked the separatist leaders to take the lead and engage with the all-party delegation "to start a credible and meaningful political dialogue and resolution process to end the stalemate".
"Cutting across party lines and political positions, the country’s political leadership has reached out and it is for us to collectively lend it credence and credibility. All of us, be it the mainstream political parties or political groups with a separatist agenda, voice the urges and aspirations of our people, as we understand those, and seek a resolution of the problems as we see them from our own perspectives," she said in the letter.
She said her party always believed that "the Hurriyat Conference is a stakeholder in the peace, resolution and prosperity of the State". "Indeed, right in the beginning in our Party’s founding declaration we stood for dialogue with all stakeholders as the only way forward."
A 28-member all-party delegation headed by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh is arriving in the Valley on Sunday for a two-day meeting with "all stakeholders".
PTI adds:
Earlier in the day, Ms. Mufti called for engaging all sections of the society, including the Hurriyat Conference, in a credible and meaningful political dialogue for resolution of the problems in the Valley.
“The country’s political leadership must, without any further delay, reach out to and engage all sections of the society, including leaders of the Hurriyat Conference, in a productive dialogue process to resolve the issue and make peace a reality in Jammu and Kashmir,” she said while visiting the family of a man killed in firing by security forces.
“Visited the family of late Mashooq Ahmed, firing victim of Kund, Kulgam and offered heartfelt condolences to the bereaved family... The loss of human lives is a colossal tragedy and every one should strive for peace in J&K,” she posted on Facebook.
The Chief Minister said it is perhaps for the first time that the Kashmir issue has been, during the past two months, discussed in so many forums and at so many levels including Parliament and at all-party meetings where judicious views were put across by all shades of the country’s political opinion on how to end the stalemate.
The need of the hour is to build on this larger political consensus within the country and initiate tangible measures to address the issue, she said.
Ms. Mufti said the present situation in Kashmir calls for every right thinking party, group or individual to rise to the occasion and strive for finding ways and avenues for the restoration of peace and resolution of the problem.
“Right now Kashmir is again embroiled in a burning situation and we have hope that all sides will pick up elements of sanity and pragmatism and strike a new benchmark towards the resolution of the problem in light of the global and sub-continental realities,” she said.
While the separatist leadership shall also have to take a step forward, the Centre on its part shall have to put off the fire on internal discontent, Ms. Mufti said.
The Congress, the CPI(M) and many other parties pitched for holding dialogue with “all stakeholders”, including the Hurriyat, at a meeting held by the government in New Delhi on Saturday to brief the MPs who are part of the delegation.
